BAR HARBOR – Mildred “Millie” Buzby Woolman, 92, died peacefully May 30, 2012, at her Birch Bay home in Bar Harbor. She was born Dec. 28, 1919, in Elmer, N.J. Millie grew up the third child of Earl W. and Maude V. (Wright) Buzby.
She graduated from Bridgeton (N.J.) High School, in 1937, and briefly took home economics at Temple University. She loved babies and worked with mothers and newborns, living in with them until they were well established and secure. Charles Woolman, whom she knew from childhood, began dating Millie in 1940. They were soon engaged and married on a snowy Feb. 7, 1942, at Elmer Methodist Church. Two children, Carol and Dennis, were born a year apart in 1943 and 1944. The U.S. Army drafted Charles, and a few days after Denny was born, he was shipped overseas to England, France, Belgium
and Germany. He served as a chauffeur in a non-combatant unit European Civil Affairs Division from 1944 to 1945. Millie and her young children lived with her parents at 76 Broad St., Elmer, N.J. There was plenty of warmth and love to go around in the Buzby home. In 1946 the young family moved across town to 23 Third St., the home where Charles grew up. Charles managed M. F. Riley & Son Lumber and Hardware, owned by his uncle, Frank Riley. Millie lived on Third Street with her wonderful neighbors for 60 years. Several years after Charles died, in 2001, she moved to Friends Home in Woodstown, N.J. In 2009 she moved to Bar Harbor to be near her daughter, Carol; son-in-law, Rich, two granddaughters and their families. She was a lifelong member of Order of Eastern Star, where she served as worthy matron several times when Charles was worthy patron. She served as the grand representative to Mississippi for Eastern Star. At her death she was the oldest member of First Baptist Church, Elmer, N.J. She loved to sing and had a true alto voice. She sang in the choir and came from a musical family. Her grandfather, Ethan Wright, conducted an orchestra in the same church. He played trombone, his son, Arthur, played violin and another son, William, the coronet. Millie’s mother played piano and organ. Recently Millie enthusiastically sang along with Hospice’s Evensong and granddaughter, Amy Munson, as they serenaded her. The music continues in her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She loved Ocean City, N.J., where she spent many summers at the beach, rode her bike on the boardwalk and made dozens of friends for life. Millie enjoyed doing cryptograms, Jumbles, reading the paper, working at Elmer Library, helping out at elections and working on the switchboard of the local hospital. She gathered regularly for coffee with friends. She volunteered at countless fried oyster and chicken salad suppers, and other community benefits. Millie enjoyed late night comedy and was a night owl, even at 92. Millie loved to knit, crochet and sew. She was a fine tailor, who created wool plaid pleated skirts, coat and dress ensembles, and graduation gowns. She made the best rice pudding in South Jersey. She was famous for her lemon butter and iced tea. She never went on a trip without a cookie tin filled with peanut butter crackers. She canned tomato juice, froze lima beans and corn, peas, string beans and rosy pink Jonathan applesauce. Millie loved to paint her nails, wear lipstick and “tea rose” perfume. Her grandchildren said, “My Nana smells like roses.” She was the arbiter of good taste – if her husband walked downstairs in plaid shirt and striped pants, Millie spoke up: “Charles, you are not wearing those pants with that shirt, are you?” She kept her sense of humor to the end and enjoyed joking with others.
She is survived by her daughter, Carol Woolman and husband, Richard Bullock, of Bar Harbor; her son, Dennis Woolman of Prunedale, Calif.; her beloved grandchildren, Lara Horner and Amy Munson of Bar Harbor and Christian Horner and wife, Alexandra, of Los Angeles, Joshua and Lucas Woolman of Modesto, Calif., Jacob and wife, Erin Woolman, of Los Angeles and Christa Woolman of Sacramento, Calif.; her great-grandchildren, Helena and Tarzan Munson, Jane and Ava Horner, Alicia, Olivia and Alex Gray, Breana, Jacob and Kailia Woolman. She loved her nephew, Edward Coombs and wife, Mary, of Woodstown, N.J., like her own children. We are grateful for the prayers of her sister-in-law, Eleanor Buzby of Placentia, Calif. A large extended family of nieces, nephews and cousins survives her. In 2001 Millie was predeceased by her loving husband of 59 years, Charles Woolman of Elmer, N.J.; in 1998 by her grandson, Mark Woolman Horner of San Antonio; her brother, E. Warner Buzby of Haddon Heights, N.J., in 2005; sister, Dorothy Coombs, in 1995; and son-in-law, Channing Washburn of Bar Harbor in 1997. We thank Marjorie Hoffmann, a friend from childhood, for her faithful support; daughters-in-law, Terri Rocha and Angel Woolman for their love; and son-in-law, Bill Horner and wife, Cookie, for friendship and the uplifting serenades by Evensong. We so appreciate the regular visits by hospice volunteer Pat Eagan for the past two years. Millie’s family is grateful for the warmth and love of the staff at her home in Safe Harbor, Birch Bay, and the care, attention and expert nursing and services of hospice, and the compassionate care of her physician, Ronald Prokopius, M.D. We are thankful for the faithful prayers of her friends at First Baptist Church of Elmer and Acadia Friends Meeting in Maine.
There will be a memorial service 3 p.m. Friday, June 1, at Birch Bay Village, Bar Harbor, under the care of Acadia Friends Meeting. A service in celebration of her life will be held 10 a.m. Monday, June 4, at First Baptist Church, Elmer, N.J. Burial will be afterward at Chestnut Grove Cemetery, Elmer, N.J. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Millie’s memory to the Mark Woolman Horner Music Education Fund, care of Maine Community Foundation, 245 Main St., Ellsworth, ME 04605. Arrangements by Jordan-Fernald, 1139 Main St., Mount Desert, with Layton Funeral Home, Woodstown, N.J. Condolences may be expressed at
www.jordanfernald.com.